


Shakespearean

by unspeakable3



Series: welcome to the most noble and ancient house of black [69]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bastardizing Shakespeare, Death Eaters, Ficlet, Ficlet Collection, First War with Voldemort, Gen, Horcruxes, Iambic Pentameter, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Inspired by Hamlet, POV Regulus Black, Pre-Suicide Mission, Regulus Black Deserves Better, Regulus Black Feels, Regulus Black-centric, Wordcount: 100-1.000, Wordcount: 100-500
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-21 10:50:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21298244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unspeakable3/pseuds/unspeakable3
Summary: "For though I am the Heart of the LionIn name, a lion’s bravery I lack."CW: this whole thing is a deliberation about a suicide mission in the form of a soliloquy, so please don't read if that sort of thing might affect you. <3
Relationships: Regulus Black & Black Family, Regulus Black & Sirius Black, Regulus Black & Voldemort
Series: welcome to the most noble and ancient house of black [69]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1395592
Comments: 2
Kudos: 34





	Shakespearean

I know what I must do, yet I linger.  
The locket is made, the letter written,  
I have said a brief farewell to Mother  
(Though she knew not what I meant by my words  
And if she did, would put a stop to it,  
Her last twice-Black son, and his suicide),  
Kreacher knows, too well, what part he must play,  
Having gone through the trial once before. 

There is one other I long to speak to  
Before I face my very last hurdle.  
But I know that it is impossible;  
My brother abandoned me long ago.  
The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black  
Lost its bright, brilliant, promising heir.  
And now it will lose its spare. The whole line  
Gone. Snuffed out. The pure-blooded dynasty  
Come to an end with naught to show but death.

But if I was able to track him down  
He would murder me on sight, or worse still,  
Hand me over to his ragtag band of  
Vigilantes without a backwards glance.  
I wish that he might come to know that I  
Forgave him. That I love him. He remained  
My brother and will, beyond the afterlife  
For evermore, if such a thing exists. 

Come, Regulus, stop prevaricating.  
I know I must face the cave and the dead,  
And my own death as well, to thwart him.  
I must do this, I must take the locket,  
So Kreacher might destroy it, and with it,  
The Dark Lord’s soul fragment that lies within.  
It is the only way that Sirius  
And the rest might have a chance to succeed.  
It is the only way to free the world  
Of a tyrant hell-bent on massacre.

Yet I wonder, should I stay, in secret,  
And work, undercover, to destroy him?  
Could I suffer inflicting yet more pain  
Upon those undeserving innocents,  
Acting as a spy, perhaps, for the Light?  
Could my heart bear it? Could my mind? My soul?  
I do not know if I have what it takes.  
For though I am the Heart of the Lion  
In name, a lion’s bravery I lack.  
My brother is the Gryffindor, not I.  
Sirius would not falter. Nor Potter,  
Bludger-brained and ignorant though he be.  
I do not think I have the strength of mind  
To stand before the Dark Lord and deceive;  
Like Mother, he always detects a lie.  
He would root me out before I knew it  
And all my suffering would be for naught.

Come now: one foot in front of the other.  
My shoes are polished, my hair neatly brushed;  
I am ready for my soul to be weighed  
(or, as ready as one can ever be).  
I can only hope and pray to the gods  
That my final exploit will be enough.  
That I might have a chance at redemption.


End file.
